The Book of Obama by Ted Rall

Mr. Rall's work is very important because the mass media...ignore the decidedly unglamorous and morally disquieting stories of poverty, international human rights abuses, and corrupt business that Mr. Rall addresses.
-East Hampton Star

Synopsis

How did a charismatic young president elected in an atmosphere of optimism and expectation lead the United States to the brink of revolution? From a chance encounter in the early 1980s to the Democratic primaries of 2007-08, syndicated columnist and political cartoonist Ted Rall was one of the first to size up Barack Obama as we know him now: conservative, risk-averse and tonedeaf. In The Book of Obama Rall revisits the rapid rise and dizzying fall of Obama--and the emergence of the Tea Party and Occupy movements--and draws a startling conclusion: We the People weren't lied to. We lied to ourselves, both about Obama and the two-party system. We voted when we ought to have revolted.

Columnist, cartoonist, graphic novelist and independent war journalist Ted Rall is the winner of numerous awards and honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Problems of the Disadvantaged (twice) and a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of 16 books, including the Generation X polemic Revenge of the Latchkey Kids, The Anti-American Manifesto, and To Afghanistan and Back, the first book about the US invasion of Afghanistan. Outspoken and often controversial, Ted Rall is a frequent guest on Fox News, Al Jazeera and Russia Today TV. He holds a bachelors degree with honors in history from Columbia. He lives in New York.

East Hampton Star

Reviewed by Stephanie Wade
on
Sep 07 2012

Mr. Rall's work is very important because the mass media...ignore the decidedly unglamorous and morally disquieting stories of poverty, international human rights abuses, and corrupt business that Mr. Rall addresses.